This invention relates to spice dispensers, more particularly to a magnetically-hanging spice dispenser.
There are many instances where it would be desirable to be able to save space in a kitchen by magnetically hanging spice containers, and to save time by eliminating the need for opening and closing the spice containers.
A number of patents disclose various kinds of magnetically-hanging spice dispensers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,203 discloses “Spice rack with magnetically held spice containers”. The spice container is retained in or on the closure body by a magnetic force which is used to seal the spice container. However, the magnet and the seal are both located on the spice rack, so this prior art spice dispenser accommodates spice containers having only one shape and one size, and the spice container has limited single-row positions for hanging. In addition, the complicated spice rack structure is difficult to clean, if not impossible.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,818 discloses “Container assembly”. The spice rack assembly includes a rack and at least one container that is magnetically coupled to the rack. Since the magnet attaches to a ferromagnetic plate, this prior art spice dispenser lacks an auto-aligning feature. Also, this prior art spice dispenser does not have a self-sealing feature. Moreover, this prior art spice dispenser requires the users to manually open and close holes after each use.
Canadian Patent 2 349 889 discloses “Magnetically Hanging Spice/Sauce Dispenser System”. The hanging spice/sauce dispenser system comprises a planer ferromagnetic plate and a container assembly. This prior art spice dispenser does not have an auto-aligning feature because of the use of a ferromagnetic plate. Furthermore, this prior art spice dispenser lacks a hole-size selector.
These prior art arrangements do not have a magnetically-hanging spice dispenser which has magnetic elements at pre-determined locations for auto-aligning attachment, and has a self-sealing cap for eliminating the need for opening and closing the spice container. None of the prior art spice dispenser has a circular elastic cover which is capable of variably overlapping with the removable cap so that spices can be dispensed at continuously-variable flow rate.